A Friendly Wager
by Louis Castiel Williams
Summary: Shayera and Zatanna make a bet, and Batman is involved. BMZZ
1. Chapter 1

Play Hard

#1 – The Bet is On!

_**Author's Note: This fic is heavily inspired, by another fanfic called Heroic Surbanites, which I highly recommend you all read, especially if you end up enjoying this one. But don't worry, this is in no means a rip off, and I have plenty of fun and original ideas for this series, I've been watching a lot of sitcoms lately and have gathered a few ideas for different points in the plot of this extremely light-hearted story. **_  
Zatanna was sitting across from Bruce Wayne, in a Denny's located near the suburbs of New Gotham City, she looked him directly in the eye and told him…

"I made a bet, and got you involved." She said calmly.

She waited for his reaction, but none came, he simply sipped his coffee and calmly asked.

"And what was that bet?"

She poured syrup on her pancakes, using a fork and knife to cut a piece (or pieces off) she was about to put in her mouth but not before telling him…

"We have to move into a penthouse near the safest part of Gotham…"

She noticed Bruce's relaxed posture begin to stiffen.

"…And live there, like a normal, non-superhero, couple, for a month." She said before eating her pancakes.

Bruce sipped some more of his coffee, put the cup down, put both hands to his temple and sighed.

"Why, would you do that?" Bruce asked trying to keep calm.

Did she seriously not take into account that he'd soon have at least 10 case files to deal with by the week's end? This is Gotham City after all!

"Because…I dunno, I'm impulsive, and Hawkgirl is annoying, ya know?

"Zee, I can't do this." Bruce replied while attempting to grab some syrup to pour on his waffles, Zatanna grabbed his hand first, and he looked at her raising an eyebrow.

"What're you doing?" He asked.

"Bruce, you're my best friend, that means my bullshit becomes your bullshit." She said in the most serious voice he'd ever seen her used.

"That's stupid."

"No it's not, do you have any idea how snarky she is?"

"That doesn't matter, I have to make sure Gotham's safe. I don't have to time to lounge around in the Suburbia's."

"Oh come on, the League will deal with the psycho of the week."

"Gotham is my-"

Zatanna was not about to listen to him blab about how Gotham was "his" city.

"You have Nightwing, Batgirl, Black Canary, Huntress, Batwoman, Red Hood,Batwing and some guy called Talon. All running around Gotham, it stopped being your city years ago."

Zatanna was surprised no one ever thought to point that out to him, seriously Gotham wasn't even thought of as Batman's city alone, it was practically a superhero community down there.

"I'm still not doing this."

"Please Bruce."

"No."

"Yes."

"I said no."

"Come on!"

"Not happening."

"*sigh* I didn't want to play this card."

She leaned over the table and whispered in his ear.

"He said that? That good for nothing, womanizing bastard had the nerve?!"

"Oh yeah, Hal flat out vented about how much of douche he thinks you are."

"Okay, we'll win your stupid bet Zee, only on one condition..."

"And what might that be?"

"I pick the area we live in, and we do this on my terms. Also I want to meet with Hal, he and I have much to discuss."

"Sounds good to me, and Bruce. I know this seems like a really frivolous ordeal, but thanks." She said with a smile, it charmed him.

If he wasn't fired up, he would have grinned back at her. She had this uncanny ability to make him smile, she was the only person who could when they were kids.

"Don't mention int." He muttered.

Zatanna noticed this and put her hand on his once more.

"Cheer up, you earned a sebatical long ago, and besides, it's you and me, it'll be fun."

"Your optimism is overwhelming."

Zee smiled brightly at him, this bet could actually be a lot of fun.

Watch Tower, later that day...

The founders had their meeting, as soon as it was adjourned, everyone left. As they were leaving Batman stopped Green Lantern.

"What's up, Bats? Finally realized how irrelevant you are on a team full of a superheroes?"

"No, I've come to tell you. I'm participating in this bet."

"Really? But you aren't even a superhero." Hal pointed out.

"I am by association, so it counts." Batman stepped a little closer to Hal "So listen up Jordan, I want to raise the stakes."

Hal raised an eyebrow.

"I'm listening."

"If I win this bet, you have to do this." Batman handed him a tiny note card. Hal took it and looked it over.

"Fine, but if I win, not only do you have to admit that you suck in front of the entire league, but you also have to convince Zatanna to finally go out with me."

"What? You can't woo her with your so called charm." Bruce taunted trying not to grin.

"Look, the only thing that's kept me from winning her heart, is, and I cannot believe I'm saying this. Some other, person."

Batman raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah, but you two go way back, at least that's what Clark told me."

Batman smiled.

"Fine, you have a deal." He said gesturing for a hand shake.

"And don't worry Bats, after our date, Zee will be thanking you for this." Hal replied cockily.

"Keep telling yourself that."

Gotham City – Royal Penthouse Apartments - The Next Day…

Bruce and Zatanna entered their new, and particularly beautiful home, it had a nice clean hardwood floor, beautiful blue walls, several doors for various closets and rooms, a beautiful 63 inch HD Television, nice beige colored leather sofas, a porch with a wonderful view of the complex, and a soda machine in the kitchen. Was it necessary? Hell no, but whoever said that the wealthy we're frugal?

Zatanna gawked at their beautiful home while Bruce dropped his suitcase and sat on the couch, looking quite miserable. This is horrible, he thought. He felt so out of his element, last night, he went out and hunted down 5 different gangs that resided in the "Dirty Neighborhood's of Gotham" and proceeded to give them all an ass whooping they wouldn't soon forget. But here, in the Suburbs of "New Gotham", he would no longer feel the adrenaline pump through his veins as he soared through the air, or when he was investigating a crime scene, or the feeling of a thug's teeth breaking underneath his mighty hammers of justice and…Wow, he thought. **I really am a blood knight.**

"Bruce, this place is incredible! You have great taste!"

Bruce stood beside her and looked at her, his charming playboy grin present on his face.

"You seem to have forgotten, I'm a snobby rich kid."

"Rich people don't always have taste, have you seen Donald Trump?"

Bruce grinned

"True."

She set down her suitcase by the couch, and looked toward Bruce.

"What?" He asked.

"Picture time." She gesturing for him to come toward her.

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"Zee, you already have me participating in the bet, what more do you want?"

"Come on tight ass."

She just had to use his old nickname.

"Not a chance."

She raised an eyebrow, and grinned at him once more.

Bruce found himself sitting beside Zatanna, who was holding her camera phone toward them. She was making a goofy facial expression, and he was looking as mopey as usual.

Shayera recieved a text message, she checked her phone and it was a photo of Bruce and Zatanna.

"Shit..." Shayera whispered to herself.

Hal Jordan checked his Samsung Galaxy phone for a text message, the picture he recieved completely caught him off guard.

"No way, he's actually going through with it." He thought aloud.

Later that day..

Zatanna was talking with Dinah through the use of video chat, she decided she wanted to show Dinah a the new bedroom that she and Bruce would be sharing for the next month. She opened the bedroom door, and found Bruce doing handstand push ups, shirtless. His chiseled body glistening with sweat was a sight to behold. Dinah was seeing this through video chat, she had to admit, if she wasn't faithful to Ollie she wouldn't feel ashamed for enjoying the view. Dinah wasn't the only one seeing the video feed, Kara, Mari, and Diana were seeing this.

"Hera..."

"You said it, sister." Vixen agreed.

"Sure know how to pick em Zee" Dinah said.

Zatanna giggled, and Bruce heard her.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Video chat." She replied.

He got back on his feet. Zee couldn't help but let her eyes wander, eagerly exploring his Adonis like features. They were friends, best friends even, that's what they'd always been, but with a face like that, and well everything else, she couldn't help but check him out once in a while. It didn't help that he wore really tight kevlar.

"Uh Zee?" He asked.

"R-Right, I just wanted to show Dinah the room."

Bruce shrugged.

"Alright then, I'll make us some Kale smoothies in the kitchen."

"Kale?" She asked.

"It's very nutritious."

"Not to mention devoid of flavor."

She turned around and pointed the camera on her cell phone, at the various pieces of furniture located throughout the room. Bruce's gaze never left her, he may have been Batman, but he was still human. He couldn't deny that Zatanna was extremely beautiful, ridiculously even, she always had men swooning over her, even members of the Justice League. He wouldn't admit it, but he wasn't at all amused when Hal tried putting the moves on her, he knew Hal, and as her friend he wouldn't let him put his grubby little paws on her. He noticed he'd been staring for an uncomfortably long time, thankfully she hadn't noticed, so he quickly exited the room.

When he left, Zatanna began video chatting with Dinah once more...

_**To be Continued:**_

_**I decided to rewrite this story. Did not like the first version, not one bit. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**_

_**Anyways, thanks for reading and God Bless.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Sorry for the slow update, Track and School have been a bitch! Seriously, we've had varsity track meets up the ass, and on top of all that shit, there's finals! I've been so busy and almost completely unable to update my stories, luckily however I managed to finish this chapter. I know it isn't very long, but hopefully, it will you keep you sated for a little while. The next update, will not take more than 2 weeks, pink promise ;)**

Act 2

Bruce and Zatanna's Penthouse

It had definately been an unusual morning for Bruce Wayne, he'd woken up in a bed, not only that, but he was sharing it with another person. This was a very foreign concept, when he shared a bed with a person, it was usually the result of a night of passion with a particularly devious femme fetale. For the last few months he'd slept down in the cave, he was never able to pull off all-nighters either. He was only human, and the things he did tired him out very quickly. He picked up his phone from the night stand. It was 9:00 am, he had to be at work in 3 hours, so what's he supposed to do with all this time? Perhaps a quick phone call to the Justice League?

* * *

Watch Tower

Ring

Ring

"Hello?"

"Wally? Where's Clark?"

Flash sat back in his wheelie chair, his shift was 5 minutes from being completed, and he wasn't about to waste any time on the phone with Batman.

"He hasn't signed in, yet, his shift starts at noon."

Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"Noon? Who's idea was that?"

"Yours."

"What?"

"Yeah, he said he wanted to travel because of his job, and the plane he, Lois and Jimmy were boarding was leaving 4:00 am, which is why you gave me his shift for today."

"Thank you." Bruce was about to hang up, but Wally stopped him.  
"Wait!"

"What's up?"

"How's your morning going?"

"What?"

"I'm trying to start a conversation, I mean my shift is over in 3 minutes, so I want to kill sometime." Wally replied nonchalantly.

"Shouldn't you be making sure that nothing goes wrong on the ship?"

"It's 9:08 am, what could possibly"

BLAM! BLAM!

"Flash! This is Green Lantern, I need back up in here! Threat level severe!"

"Hold on a minute." Wally replied to Soranik " Who is it?"

"Seriously?!"

"Well?"

"It's Larfleeze you asshole! Aaaah!" She yelled as she was suddenly grabbed by a tendril created by the selfish alien's orange ring.

"You are Sinestro's daughter, that means you have value, you will BE MINE!" He yelled.

Wally went back on the phone "Uh..."

"HELP HER YOU NUMB SKULL!" Bruce yelled into the phone, waking up Zatanna.

Wally zoomed into the Central Hub to aid the young Green Lantern.

* * *

Back to Bruce -

Bruce rolled his eyes, Wally was a total moron. Unbeknownst to him, his yelling had awoken Zatanna, who was furious because she'd been awoke from a particularly wonderful dream.

"Steehs praw dnuora Ecurb!"

Suddenly their bed sheets had wrapped around Bruce, he looked at her completely baffled.

"What are you doing?!"

"You woke me up!"

He squirmed, desperately trying to free himself, it was sad. Zatanna chuckled this was too good.

"Shut up, Zee."

She snapped her fingers and the sheets had gone back to normal. Bruce turned away from her, he didn't trust magic, and her abuse of it was only justifying his bias against it.

"Oh come on, don't sulk, I was just being playful."

"Playful? This is no different from the time you gave me a super atomic wedgie when were kids." He replied irritated.

"You deserved it." She crossed her arms, still grinning.

"How?"

"You said magic is stupid."

"It is! You can literally make almost anything you desire, happen, by speaking backwards!"

"Well, not exactly, that just makes performing spells a hell of a lot less complex."

"Is that a fact?" He asked skeptically.

"Do you wanna know how it's done without spells?"

"Sure."

"Are you positive, it's pretty damn complicated, like, more complicated than the technology in Superman's fortress of solitude."

"Try me." He replied.

One lengthy explanation later...

"That makes no sense." Bruce said cynically.

"If you were a magical/supernatural being it would."

"Tt."

Ding

Dong

Bruce and Zatanna looked at each other.

"Did you order pizza?" Zatanna asked.

"It's not even 10 in the morning." Bruce replied with a deadpanned expression.

"Alright! Jeez, no need to be snarky."

Bruce just let out a low growl. Zatanna stuck her tongue out at him petulantly.

"Well, you gonna get it?"

"Hmph!"

Bruce walked to the door, and looked through the peep-hole.

"You've got to be kidding me." Bruce turned away from the door, walked back into the bedroom and pulled up the covers and went to sleep.

"Who was it?" Zee asked.

"Ollie and Dinah."

"And you didn't open the door for them?"

"No." He replied with a smug grin.

"You're an ass! She replied with throwing her pillow at him.

Bruce stopped grinning and mumbled to himself.

"I miss Alfred..."

Zatanna opened the door for Oliver and Dinah, and the three sat together on the couch.

"Sorry about Bruce, he's not a morning person." Zee told them.

"I don't think anyone who dresses up as Bat is." Oliver quipped.

Zee laughed and so did Dinah.

"That's a given Ollie."

Speak of the devil, Bruce walked into the living room, he couldn't get any sleep... once he was awake, he stayed awake.

"Why...did...you...let...them...in." Bruce asked in a voice resembling Christian Bale's Batman voice.

"What's with your voice?" Zee asked.

Bruce coughed, and cleared his throat.

"Sorry about that, as I was saying, why did you invite them inside?"

"They're our friends." Zee replied slightly aggravated.

Dinah and Oliver smiled at Bruce innocently.

"Tt, I have work in less than 3 hours, so unfortunately I won't be able to enjoy your company." He said going into the fridge and taking out a homemade protein shake.

"Why don't you just call out?" Zee asked.

"I can't, I have to run this company."

"No you don't, Lucius Fox does your job for you. You basically just sit in your office, and create contingency plans, for basically anything."

"You have no proof."

"Sure, I do, it's right-" She took out her phone but stopped mid-sentence when she saw that the screen said file corrupted.

"Where's your proof." He said grinning.

Zee smiled and took out another phone. Bruce's eyes widened in surprise.

"Shit..." He muttered.

"I have my own Batman's gambit."

"I thought I took out your Batman's gambit."

"Who said I didn't have a second Batman's gambit?"

Bruce and Zee stared each other down. Ollie and Dinah looked at them and then at each other. The tension in the room could honestly pull the Watch Tower out of orbit.

* * *

Watch Tower(Again)_  
_

Wally was sitting with Soranik, and Nightwing who he called in because...well he was afraid to face her alone without his best buddy. He employed the bro code and Dick couldn't say no to him...

They were sitting in the Cafeteria, with various heroes walking around, getting food, and sitting with their fellow colleges.

"Well this is awkward."

Soranik was reading a book, "Of Mice and Men", and she calmly replied.

"How so Nightwing?"

"Well...you and Flash won't make eye contact."

She looked at Flash.

"I'm looking at him right now, he's the one avoiding eye contact."

Dick turned to Wally.

"What happened?" Dick asked.

Soranik stared at Wally, her eyes practically looking into his soul, she definitely was her father's daughter, as she was inspiring a kind of fear he hadn't felt since the last time he pissed Shayera off.

Dick is a trained detective, he DEDUCED that Wally probably fucked things up somehow. So he decided to broach the subject.

"So, Soranik, when did you...join the league?"

"About a month ago, I was a rookie lantern, and John Stewart was assigned to train me and is my new partner. Earth is in sector 2814, so John figured that I might as well learn to be a hero from the best of the best."

"Well, we try." Wally gloated.

"Which makes me wonder why Flash is here." She added icily.

"I said I'm sorry."

"No amount of apologies could make up for it!

"Look, I was trying to change the subject, but you brought it back the conversation back to it."

"Oh, my bad." Soranik replied.

"I know! Let's play Would You Rather!"

"Why?" Dick asked.

"I dunno, you wanted to change the subject."

"Alright."

"Fine, who wants to start first?" Soranik asked.

Suddenly Plastic Man, a.k.a Patrick O'Brian, came flying around as a helicopter, because he was plastic and was able to contort himself. Why? Because they're Superhero comics, dummy.

" I will!"

"Who're you?" Soranik asked.

"I think a better question would be, "What's your number?" He replied attempting to flirt with her.

"We've just met?" Soranik pointed out dubiously.

"I know, don't you believe in love at first sight?"

Nightwing and Flash were cringing.

"No, I'm from the Planet Kouragar."

"I figured, your beauty is out of this world."

"Can we get on with the game?" Dick asked irritated.

"Sure, Would you rather for a 1,000 years or live 10 lifetimes and live to a hundred in each of them?"

Dick thought about it for a moment.

"I wouldn't mind living 1,000 years." Wally said.

"10 life times, change can be good."

"I suppose 10 life times would be rather enticing." Soranik said agreeing with Dick.

"My turn." Dick said.

"Would you rather be able to read minds or be literate in general?" Dick asked.

"Read minds, who reads books?!" Wally exclaimed.

"Flash's right! Who wants to read books?" Patrick agreed.

"I do. I'm perfectly fine with not being able to read minds." Soranik answered, disturbed by the prospect of knowing what Plastic Man was thinking every time he looked at her and licked his lips.

The three men looked at Soranik.

"What?"

"Are you going to go next?" Dick asked.

"No thanks."

"Sweet my turn!" Wally exclaimed with joy.

Everyone looked at the Scarlet Speedster expectantly.

"Would you rather have accordions for legs?"

"What's an accordion?" Soranik asked.

Dick quickly described it to her, and Wally continued with his sentence.

"Or would you rather have a 10 inch long belly button that swayed to the sound of amazing pop music?"

"What the fuck?" Soranik and Dick asked in unison.

"My legs can already become accordions!" Patrick replied, and he demonstrated.

"What are you guys doing?" Superman asked.

"Playing would you rather." Wally replied.

"Say, do you wanna play?" Wally asked.

"Um...I guess I can spare a few minutes..."

Wally smiled, and so the game **continues.**


End file.
